Factors associated with self-medication in Spain: a cross-sectional study in different age groups Gracia Nicl  os, Teresa Olivar and Vicent Rodilla Department of Pharmacy, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Moncada, Valencia, Spain Keywords Cross-sectional study; European Health Survey; Non-prescription drugs; Self- medication; Spain Correspondence Vicent Rodilla, Department of Pharmacy, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, C/Ram on y Cajal s/n, Alfara del Patriarca, Valencia 46115, Spain. E-mail: vrodilla@uchceu.es Received July 20, 2016 Accepted May 31, 2017 doi: 10.1111/ijpp.12387 Abstract Objective The identification of factors which may influence a patient’s decision to self-medicate. Methods Descriptive, cross-sectional study of the adult population (at least 16 years old), using data from the 2009 European Health Interview Survey in Spain, which included 22 188 subjects. Logistic regression models enabled us to estimate the effect of each analysed variable on self-medication. Key findings In total, 14 863 (67%) individuals reported using medication (prescribed and non-prescribed) and 3274 (22.0%) of them self-medicated. Using logistic regression and stratifying by age, four different models have been constructed. Our results include different variables in each of the models to explain self-medication, but the one that appears on all four models is educa- tion level. Age is the other important factor which influences self-medication. Self-medication is strongly associated with factors related to socio-demographic, such as sex, educational level or age, as well as several health factors such as long-standing illness or physical activity. Conclusions When our data are compared to those from previous Spanish sur- veys carried out in 2003 and 2006, we can conclude that self-medication is increasing in Spain. Introduction The use of medicines by individuals to treat self-recog- nised illnesses or symptoms is defined as self-medica- tion. [1] Self-medication is generally used for the treatment of minor ailments, and hence, medicines for treating pain, fever, cough and gastrointestinal problems are those most frequently used. Self-medication has been reported to promote a better use of health resources while maintaining the patient’s independence, increasing the individual’s interest in his/ her own health, and increasing earlier treatment for many ailments. [2] Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are easily recognised by the consumer, and they are safe and effec- tive and can be obtained without prescription. They have a low risk of abuse and misuse, as well as low occurrence of side effects. [3] Furthermore, when self-medication is used correctly, it indirectly benefits the health system as the number of doctor consultations for minor problems is reduced, thus making a better use of the available med- ical resources. Additionally, use of non-prescription medicines for self-medication can be seen as money-savers as in they are not financed generally by nationally funded health services, (and of relevance to this paper are not funded by the Spanish Health System [4] ) and also make better use of the pharmacist’s clinical skills. [5] Self-medication however can occasionally cause drug interactions, misuse or drug dependency, which may result in increased healthcare costs. [6] An example would be the misuse of antibiotics which for a number of years could easily be obtained in Spain without prescription, despite being in the legal category of prescription-only medicines. This has been shown to be at least partly responsible for an increase in the resistance to antibi- otics. [7] Although rare, some medicines have also been reported to be implicated in OTC abuse, particularly anal- gesics, dextromethorphan, antihistamines, decongestants and laxatives. [8] Other authors have reported additional problems inherent to self-medication practices such as misuse of medication (use of painkillers in excess of the recommended dose, for example), adverse drug reac- tions, [9] as well as drug interactions, [10,11] among many International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 2018, 26, pp. 258--266 © 2017 Royal Pharmaceutical Society International Journal of Pharmacy Practice Research Paper International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 2018, 26, pp. 258–266 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijpp/article/26/3/258/6099572 by guest on 04 February 2023